INVAZIJA // PICISMO

 

Mostly this is a collection of INVAZIJA recordings spanning from their time as ANARCHIJOS INVAZIJA (including tracks from the Protestas and Vogti Veida demos) into the late 1990s when they ditched the 'Anarchijos' in the name and focused on a heavier, almost stoner/crust sound. Vocals are still the focal point, stark shouts that are undeniably "Eastern" and give even the gnarliest riffs a cold, distant feeling. They made the progression by adding new elements to an already distinct sound and without turning away from their punk roots, leaving sonic archaeologists with a trove of tapes and records that feel like they came from another time and another world. I say "mostly" a collection of INVAZIJA recordings, because some nice punk in the past filled up the rest of the tape with Ukrainian and Latvian punk so the Lithuanians wouldn't get lonely. Ukraine's PICISMO taken from 1997/98 demos - discordant and damaged hardcore tonnage that related to, but sounds completely different from their neighbors on the first side. Gruff vocals and churning riffs a la UNSANE but with a propensity for tearing loose in a DBeat fury. Yet another example of what can happen when bands develop their sound organically (hint: it's almost always better). Then three more bonus cuts from Latvia's KURU KSIETRA fill up the end of the tape; rapid fire proto-fastcore delivered with adolescent honesty. More compilations, more collections, more underground and under-appreciated DIY hardcore punk. Please and thank you. 

SPLIT TAPE

KNIFEMAN

 

The term "modern hardcore" can naturally be used to describe....well, hardcore created in the modern era. Sometimes it means "current," sometimes it means "not NEGATIVE APPROACH," sometimes it means "kinda like CONVERGE" and sometimes it doesn't actually mean anything at all. But Özmein is...modern hardcore, and I don't know how else to describe it. An absolutely massive blast of metallic DBeats and erratic structures that lurch and rage, led by a devastating guitar tone ripped from Left Hand Path. The tape is fast and demanding, and it just feels like the logical destination for so many of the well-traveled roads punks (and met'lers) have been traveling. It's fully realized, it hits hard and heavy, and there's a pile of bonus tracks the didn't put online...including a DIRE STRAITS cover. 

ÖZMEIN

ANARCHIYA (Анархия)

A weird one, and I imagine one that will be tough for most of you to even venture into, much less get into. But....damn. 22 earli '00s Russian and Ukrainian punk acts that definitely lean more on the mainstream end of the spectrum, but there is something indescribably coimpelling about bands like this that develop in other-world vacuums (I think that Шмели is the most perfect example on this release). Flirtations with "traditional" sounds are frequent (as are nods at goth and late '80s Manchester), and even though I find this more interesting than essential, it goes to show that this thing we do exists all over the damned place....and has done so for quite a while. It ain't just about rehashed NYHC breakdowns and subtly tweaked DISCHARGE riffs, you know?

Сборник Панк Рока

TIMELINE

From the north shore of the Black Sea in Ukraine....hard hitting midpaced SXE hardcore knows no boundaries, no borders. Melodic and melancholic, TIMELINE create tension with their almost casual approach, never unleashing but always teetering right on the edge with spoken/shouted vocals expectant and fierce. There are only four tracks here, and I confess that it took two of them for me to really lock into what TIMELINE were up to...but the power of technology makes repeat listens effortless, and I've listened to "Fume" five times this morning. So far.

TIMELINE

GROMM

When my narrow little uneducated mind first heard black metal, this is what I thought it all sounded like. A grating presentation of haunting melodies with demonic little hobbit vocals? Yes, that's what I thought all the shit sounded like. I know I was wrong and I know that the genre has a limitless well of aural offerings....but still I keep venturing back to these sounds. This is the first offering from Ukraine's GROMM, a 2004 demo that shows them at their most primitive. Choice track: "Time's Dust Upon Millstones Of Eternity." See what I mean?

HAPPINESS - IT'S WHEN YOU'RE DEAD...